One or the Other Read Online Free Page A

the other school boards. South shore, West Island.”
    â€œThere is no way I’m teaching at the high school I went to,” Judy said. “This isn’t some
Welcome Back, Kotter
thing, it’s not going to happen.” She took a drink of wine and said, “Three blocks from my parents’ house? No way.”
    â€œThose West Island schools are good.”
    â€œI’m not going to teach a bunch of suburban kids who don’t care about anything I’ve got to say.”
    Dougherty said, “Okay,” and then didn’t say anything. He didn’t see any point in going over it again, having another fight about Judy wanting to teach in the Point or Little Burgundy, how those kids wouldn’t care about anything she had to say, either. He still found it so strange, his own parents had done such a good thing getting out of the Point so his sister and little brother could go to a decent high school.
    Then she surprised him and said, “I might apply to the south shore board.”
    â€œBut you don’t want to teach suburban kids.”
    She shrugged a little, and Dougherty shook his head and said, “Don’t tell me you think Greenfield Park is underprivileged?”
    â€œThere are parts, those row houses — what did you call them, the terraces? Other parts of the south shore.”
    Dougherty was laughing now and he said, “Maybe that school in Châteauguay, gets the kids from Caughnawaga. You want to teach on a reserve?”
    â€œI don’t know.”
    He took the last bite of his barbecue chicken and said, “You want some dessert? Cheesecake, maybe?”
    â€œLet’s go for a walk, maybe get something later.”
    â€œI’m on tonight, we’re meeting at nine.”
    â€œYou see,” Judy said, “you’re moving up already.”
    Dougherty said, “Yeah,” and he was hoping that was true. Then he said, “Look at you, you like it.”
    â€œDon’t tell anyone.” She leaned in closer and said, “Come on by when you’re finished, if it’s not too late.”
    They were smiling at each other, playful, and Dougherty said, “Okay.”
    By the time he had finished it was way too late.
----
    They didn’t find two and a half million dollars, but they did find seven revolvers, four sawed-off shotguns, dozens of boxes of ammunition, canvas money bags from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and the Bank of Montreal, stolen American Express traveller’s cheques, blank Quebec driver’s permits and a pound of hashish — all in room fourteen.
    In the restaurant beside the motel office, Peg O’Reilly told Laperrière she had no idea where any of that stuff came from. “Room fourteen hasn’t been rented out in months.”
    There were three customers in the restaurant at one in the morning when the cops had shown up, and they were still there, sitting at a table drinking coffee with Peg.
    Laperrière said, “We’re going to keep coming back.”
    â€œCould you at least pay for a cup of coffee then,” Peg said.
    Dougherty was standing by the door to the motel office. He recognized the three guys at the table: one was a Higgins brother, an older one, and Peaky Boyle was beside him, shaking his head with his usual half-annoyed, half-don’t-give-a-shit look, and Big Jim Sadowski sat there scowling, looking like he wanted to get into a fight with all eight cops.
    Even Peg looked like she wouldn’t mind if it turned into a brawl. Dougherty knew her a little from the times he’d come into the motel on the job, but he’d also seen her when he was a kid in the Point. He remembered some ceremony at the Boys and Girls Club where she’d given them a cheque for football equipment.
    Laperrière said, “You have no idea what you’ve done.” He was looking at the guys at the table, not the Higgins brother but Boyle, and he said,